Holiday ‘hotlist’ reveals top 2017 destinations
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Post Office Money, one of the UK’s biggest foreign exchange providers, says that low costs in resorts will be a destination-decider as UK tourists look to get the most from the pound in their holiday purse this year.
New flight routes that provide easier access from London and regional airports will also fuel demand from intrepid travellers.
The most obvious example of a destination set to benefit from a new direct flight in 2017 is Chile, which has already leapt to third place in the Post Office’s list of Fastest Growing Currencies over the past year with a 30 per cent surge in peso sales. The introduction of the first direct route to Santiago in January is expected to fuel more demand as non-stop services to Vietnam, Mexico and Costa Rica, all of them on the 2017 hotlist, have done in the past.
Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money said: “Over the past five years we have seen big sales increases for currencies whose destinations have been opened up to UK visitors by the introduction of direct flights. Vietnam, Mexico and Costa Rica are good examples of tropical destinations that have reaped the benefit of easier access. Closer to home, the same applies to Croatia, which is on our hotlist for the fourth time in five years. It helps that all of these destinations rate among the best value choices in our holiday costs barometers.”
In unpredictable times when sterling may be affected by economic uncertainty, Post Office Travel Money says that value will be the crucial commodity for people planning trips abroad. The Baltic States are included on the hotlist for the first time because all three of their capitals – Riga (Latvia), Tallinn (Estonia) and Vilnius (Lithuania) – consistently rated among the cheapest city break destinations in 2016 and previous years and are expected to do so again in 2017.
Brown said: “The cost of meals and drinks is really cheap in all three Baltic States and this is an important consideration on a city break holiday as these are costs UK tourists cannot avoid. Now that competitive airfares and an increasing range of keenly-priced hotels are easily available from the UK, we expect the Baltic capitals to be top choices in the year ahead.”
Japan is another country included on the hotlist because of the value it now offers. Falling prices in Tokyo have made the country the cheapest long haul destination for meals, drinks and other tourist staples, while sterling is now worth over 25 per cent more against the yen than five years ago.
UK holidaymakers are also likely to be attracted by events taking place abroad, according to the Post Office, which has included Canada and Denmark on its hotlist as a result. Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary of independence in 2017 while Aarhus, Denmark’s second city, is European Capital of Culture.
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